Brentwood School Asked To Investigate Racially Charged Video

BRENTWOOD—Students of a Brentwood private school have been accused of racist behavior in a video that surfaced alongside a change.org petition entitled, “Take action against the racist behavior of Brentwood students.”

A campaign created by BWS Students Against Racism was launched on change.org, which accused the nearly $40,000 a year private school of failing to protect its students – the petition sates, “A group of almost exclusively white students had a party on a boat and decided to sing the n-word multiple times. Brentwood has done nothing other than offer to ‘talk to them.’”

The petition alleged, “Brentwood claims to value diversity and acceptance, but their lack of action demonstrates otherwise. This is just another example of their white favoritism.” Dr. Mike Riera, the head of the school indicated that Brentwood School does not tolerate racism.

The Brentwood School students involved made a short video of themselves singing along to the song “Dump Dump,” by A$AP Ferg, which includes “incredibly racist and misogynistic” lyrics, said a letter that went home to Brentwood School parents on Monday.

School officials indicated that they are investigating the incident and considering potential disciplinary action. The school described the lyrics as “offensive and inconsistent with our core values.”

The video, which was deemed racially charged by some Brentwood School students, caught the attention of former Major League Baseball player Barry Bonds, whose daughter attends the school – he tweeted about the video, stating, “I am sad that I had to see this at my daughter’s school.” He included the hashtags #Racism #Fixit #Suspension.

Brentwood School is considered one of Los Angeles’ most prestigious schools. Base tuition for grades 7-12 was $37,725. The East Campus of Brentwood teaches grades 7-12, where 34 percent of the students are of color – the West Campus teaches kindergarten through sixth grade, where 26 percent of the students are of color.